Tractive GPS for Dogs Review
In this review, we take a look at the Tractive GPS for dogs. We want to see how the device performs with our resident trail dog and puppy product tester Oliver, a 1.5-year-old Springador.
The Tractive GPS for Dogs is exactly that. A GPS tracker that you attach directly to your dog’s collar or harness and through a mobile app you can monitor the dogs GPS location anywhere in the world which gives you great peace of mind if you were to lose your best four-legged friend. Another nice feature the tracker has is it enables you to set a virtual fence so that you can see when your dog has entered or left your home for example. Great for getting a notification if your dog is known to run away or perhaps if you have a daily dog walker. You can also see their tracking history.
As well as tracking your dog’s location the Tractive GPS monitors your dog’s activity giving you a breakdown of how many miles they have run as well as letting you set a daily fitness goal based on your dog’s size and breed.
The Tractive GPS for dogs is small enough to fit on your dog’s collar without being cumbersome and weighs only 35g so it can be kept on at all times. It is also 100% waterproof so won’t get in the way of any of your adventures no matter what they are.
Review
General Use
The Tractive GPS Tracker for Dogs is a great little gadget that gives you peace of mind knowing you will be able to find your dog anywhere in the world if they were to go missing. I know I certainly appreciate this feature.
Not only that but you can also monitor your dog’s fitness making sure your favourite four-legged friend is getting enough exercise based on their size and breed.
Even though the tracker is smaller than most GPS Dog Trackers on the market it is still quite bulky looking when fitted on your dog’s collar. However, it is lightweight and the curved edges mean that the dog doesn’t notice it and it won’t get snagged on anything whilst out on adventures.
Strava for Dogs
One feature I was really hoping the Tractive GPS would offer is the ability to use Strava with your dog. I personally really want to share my trail rides with my dog and look at in-depth stats because I’m a stats nerd. This is possible with this tracker but there is a big caveat at that is that the tracker only monitors locations in 2-60min intervals normally and 2-3 second intervals when live tracking (which I also could only get to work for about 5 mins at a time). So even though I could download the GPS files from my dog’s daily activity the data is not detailed enough to be used for Strava for Dogs. This also makes me think that perhaps the activity tracking data isn’t very accurate either but it’s better than nothing.
Battery Life
Our dog is very active and we go on daily adventures and he still isn’t tired. Whether this affects the battery life on the tracker I am not sure but I would say on average we charge the tracker every 4 days. This isn’t bad when you consider you charge your phone and apple watch daily or your gamin watch better 1-10 days depending on the model. The app also alerts you when the tracker is running low so you can charge it. I have found on a couple of occasions the alert come through whilst we are on an adventure which isn’t ideal as we want to have peace of mind that we can find the dog if we were to lose them which obviously wont be possible if the battery is dead. I think it’s fair to say that you should get in the habit of charging the device before bigger adventures and then this won’t be an issue.
Durability
The device is very robust. Ollie (Our Trail Dog) has really put it through its paces over the last month with constant use in all sort of weathers and adventures from snow to the sea, mud, hot weather and everything in-between and all there is to show for it is a couple of cosmetic minor scuffs.
Price
The price of the Tractive GPS Tracker for Dogs is very reasonable at £44.99 for the unit. However, you are required to then signup to their subscription plan to be able to use it which costs:
Becci Skelton and Esme’s Review
The Tractive GPS device came in a neat little box and was super simple to charge and set up. It fit onto Esme’s collar and wasn’t too bulky. She didn’t seem to mind having it on at all.
The app is simple to use; You select your dogs’ breed, age, weight etc, create a profile and it tells you how much activity they need. It gives you a good indication of the level of activity she was doing and a pretty accurate location detector.
Luckily, Es isn’t a runaway kinda dog, so I didn’t really get to use the actual GPS tracker to locate her, but if your dog does like to have a solo wander, this would be really useful. I was hoping it would show me a bit more detail of her activity, ie, her distance covered etc, as I’m sure if I do 5 miles, she does at least double, but it doesn’t (or I couldn’t figure that bit out anyway), but that is for my own figure loving needs and doesn’t really matter I guess.
All in all, a great piece of kit, does what it says and super useful if your dog likes a wander or if you’re concerned if they are getting enough exercise for their breed. Thanks very much to One Track Mind and Tractive for letting me test it out.
What did you think of the Tractive GPS Tracker for Dogs? Would you use it with your trail dog? Have you tried using a GPS tracker with your dog and if so which?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
You can find out more about Tractive and their GPS Trackers here: https://tractive.com/en/
Here are some other articles we think you might like:
- Makes tracking your dogs location easy
- Helps you find your missing dog
- Works worldwide
- Low-cost subscription
- Activity Tracker helps monitor your dog's fitness
- Requires you to pay for a subscription plan
- Not the best battery life
- The activity tracker isn't accurate enough for use with Strava
- A little bulky when mounted on a dog collar. Especially on smaller dogs.
